Showing results by narrator "Rachael Beresford" in All Categories

Lord Stephen Stanhope, a duke's diplomat son who's traveling to the Congress of Vienna, agrees to protect his friend's wayward sister on Stephen's journey to Austria. Lady Mary Beresford has impetuously set off on her own for Vienna. Vexed with the headstrong woman he's yet to meet, Stephen despairs of ever catching up with the maddening lady. They eventually meet at an inn in the Alps, where the guests' progress has been impeded by two matters: a blizzard—and Lady Mary's refusal to leave until she's found an elderly fellow traveler who has disappeared.

All Beth has ever wanted is a quiet life for her and her family. And that is what she has, until one evening a note is pushed through the door, with two words scrawled in menacing black ink: Found you. As Beth's neatly crafted life begins to unravel, an unseen menace torments her and those she loves. But who's behind the threats?

Ever since her emergence as a child prodigy Isabelle Bryant has only ever known one love - her violin. Then, aged 32, at the height of her career, the unthinkable happens. What do you do when everything depends on the dexterity of your fingers, only to lose them in a horrifying instant? Devastated and vulnerable in the aftermath of her accident, Isabelle struggles to find new meaning in her life. Her perilous path of self-discovery leads her to Vienna, the historic city home of her musical hero, Beethoven, and into the arms of the man who will become her lover.

Explore the mesmerizing depths of the esoteric and unexplainable with this outstanding A-to-Z reference guide. Catalog of the Unexplained provides fascinating entries on 450 topics, from angels and herbalism to tarot and vampires. Magical practitioners, holistic healers, ghost hunters, spiritual seekers, and trivia fans alike will marvel at the knowledge this book contains.

Queen Victoria's reign was an era of breathtaking social change, but it did little to create a platform for women. But not so within the social sphere of the seance - a mysterious, lamp-lit world on both sides of the Atlantic, in which women who craved a public voice could hold their own. Out of the Shadows tells the stories of the enterprising women whose supposedly clairvoyant gifts granted them fame, fortune, and, most important, influence, as they crossed rigid boundaries of gender and class as easily as they passed between the realms of the living and the dead.

Cinderella stories captured the imagination of girls in the 1950s, when dreams of meeting the right man could seem like a happy ending, a solution to life's problems. But over the next 50 years women's lives were transformed, not by the magic wand of a fairy godmother, nor by marrying princes, but by education, work, birth control - and feminism.

When Rachel and her husband, Adam, move to Maple Cottage in remote Cheshire, it should be the fulfilment of their dream to start a family. Haunted by her past and challenged by events around her, Rachel finds that her home is not the sanctuary she envisaged - and neither is her marriage. Adam's temper rages when he discovers he is infertile. She seeks solace in the arms of her gardener and falls pregnant. Dreams become reality - and a garden grows, but as every gardener knows, even the most beautiful plants can be toxic.

Every family has its secrets. None more than this one. Alison’s life has been a lonely one, but now it’s time to change that. With no children in her future there is only one answer - she’ll take one. She’ll rescue a girl who needs a better home. A better mother. A better life. It will be the start of a perfect family, and no one will question who Lucy really is. Especially not Lucy herself...A dark story of psychological suspense, perfect for fans of Kerry Fisher, Liane Moriarty and Linda Green.

Galanta is only one step away from successfully releasing Santanas. The faeries must either stop her or hope that their allies stand strong in the coming storm. While they seek her out, they are forced to cement old allegiances and create new ones. With this in mind, Orion offers himself as a groom to the treacherous night faeries, asking only that Aethan go in his stead to choose his bride. Meanwhile, Galanta's spell means that while Izzy now remembers Aethan, he has no memory of her.

When Flora and Adam McIntosh move to the country, neither of them knows that their new home holds a dark secret. Flora has a sense that something in the house is not right and that the villagers are hiding something. As she tries to uncover the truth, Flora finds herself entangled in a web of deceit, with no one to trust and her life in danger.

For Miss Phoebe Lockswell, fashionable London tea parties and balls aren't her style. Instead, she prefers to tinker tirelessly with a clockwork diffuser she's built from scratch. If only she can get the invention to work on command, she might earn her way out of an arranged marriage to a repugnant member of the House of Commons.

Laura's got a few pounds to lose, nothing major, so she joins the local slimming class, Nu-You. Psycho Kassie and her two morbidly obese friends are livid. They have been struggling for years. Battling obesity. The worst thing for them is people who don't look overweight blazing in all optimistic and raring to go. They want to educate her on the definition of over-indulgence. Could there be such a thing as death by chocolate?

A lady seeking forgiveness for her past, Lady Viola Haversham is determined to put her past where it belongs. A woman forging a new path in life, Mrs. Ruby Jakeston is tired of others taking care of her. A girl lost and in search of a place to belong, Lady Ellington is on the brink of losing the only home she's ever known. A trio of women holding out hope for three different holiday miracles: Christmas ever more.

I watch him watching us, imagining how he would take me. I send him the message with my eyes. This is who I am. I am Veronica Franco. I am a COURTESAN. I court the cultural elite for fame and fortune, giving my body to many. And I'm good. So very good. After all, I was taught by my mother, and mother always knows best. How else to please the future King of France than with the imaginative use of Murano glass? How else to fulfill the desires of all yet keep my sense of self-worth?

While the elusive Secret Symphony of Giovanni St. John captivated the world's fascination, it left his daughter closed away in the Silent House; she, the one who holds the fullness of truth about the ninth symphony. Now Aria St. John is determined to not only break free of the loss that has defined her, but to honor her father through one final gift in his last days.

This magical fantastical story is about a house for sale which, when cleared, reveals cracks in the walls and ground floor which cannot be explained. We find that underneath the house is a lake inhabited by a sea dragon, Zadie, and her friends and slaves. She has a Tall Ship, and she yearns to return to warmer times and Utopia. Her slaves are "fish people" who have to live partly in the water below and partly in the house, which they enter via the cracks.

A cursed witch is the loneliest kind. Shunned by her small community, Henny Wilson knows this very well. Suffering constant accidents, she keeps away from people for their own safety. But her new neighbour, Nathan, has other ideas. He believes the curse is just in her head. As they grow closer and feelings develop between them, Nathan vows to show Henny that she doesn't have to suffer any longer.

The veil is sealed for 30 days and Izzy is looking for distractions to help her forget about Aethan. When a strange dragon and rider appear in Eynsford, Izzy and Isla travel with Emerald to another world. There, they discover the mystical city of Millenia; home to to a band of renegade dark faeries, Ubanty, and dragons. Unable to return, Izzy is forced to battle pirates, assassins, and the advances of the devastatingly handsome Turos. But at home, the shadow of war is marching across the land. Santanas is back and gathering an army, and Izzy is needed.

There is nothing cake can't solve. Not. One. Thing. Except, perhaps, the escape of a crazy homicidal ex-ward of Bridget Sway's handsome parole officer. Since Bridget has taken the ex-ward's place in the group home, and in the handsome parole officer's roster, it's likely she's a target for Crazy Katie's homicidal rage. When the bodies start dropping, what does Bridget do? Simple. She lets best friend, and ex-PI, Sabrina talk her into a "straightforward" evade and capture mission so they can hand the murderer over to the police and life can go back to normal. Yeah. Foolproof plan.

Have you ever helped someone out of instinct, because not helping never even occurred to you? Remember how surprised you were at their gratitude? It is easy to feel like kindness and gratitude are becoming rare in the world today, but the truth is that it is all around you - you just need to learn how to see it. Kindness shows you how to do just that, and inspires you to take part with tips, ideas, recommendations, and advice. You will learn to see yourself and your surroundings in a kinder, happier way.